Approximately 10% of the population of the archipelago nation of the Seychelles -off the southeast coast of Africa- she is addicted to heroin, in what the government now regards as an epidemic.
Even being in jail does not offer protection to those who are dependent on that drug.
Reporters from the BBC Africa Eye investigative unit were given access to the country’s main prison, where they witnessed the rawest side of a problem that threatens to overwhelm the country.
Located on top of a hill, surrounded by beautiful landscapes of the Indian Ocean, is the Montagne Posée prison, the main prison in the Seychelles.
The Seychelles are a country of contradictions, though it’s hard to reconcile these jaw-dropping sights with what’s inside the prison.
At the entrance to the prison, after going through numerous locked doors and miles of coiled barbed wire, there is a twelve-foot-tall mural of Nelson Mandela, painted on the wall of an office building.
Next to the smiling face of the late South African president – who, of course, was also imprisoned – is a quote that reads: “It is said that no one knows a nation until they have been inside its prisons”.
And in many ways it is true that this prison is a reflection of what is happening in the Seychelles beyond its publicized reputation as a luxurious holiday destination.
We are here to meet one of the inmates, Jude Jean, but the BBC team is first taken to what the inmates say is the cell to show visitors. It’s clean, but it’s cramped.
There are eight beds, four on each side, one on top of the other, with no room to sit upright. In the same space there is a toilet and a shower, so there is no privacy at all.
Nearby are the dirty and dilapidated kitchens. Rotten fish entrails clog the drain. The stench is pungent and the flies are feasting.
Then comes the main cell block. The darkness is overwhelming. It is the early hours of the afternoon. However, no sunlight is seen. Small bulbs in an adjoining corridor provide dim illumination. Prisoners use cardboard boxes to create privacy behind the bars of their cells with the front exposed. Some are so small they are more like cages and there are dirty mattresses on the floor.
The heroin problem also lurks in the dark with the flow of powerful narcotics between these cells.
Prison offers no protection from what happens outside.
The Seychelles are currently facing an epidemic.
It is estimated that around 10% of the population is addicted to heroin. So much so that it has to matter foreign labor to do the work that drug addicts cannot do.
At the jail, they rotate Tanzanian guards in an attempt to reduce corruption and the trafficking of heroin into the cells, but it’s not working.
Corruption, drugs and prison
Even President Wavel Ramkalawan acknowledges that the jail is not serving its purpose.
“When you have such a problem, this is a breeding ground for corruption by the guards. Once there is corruption, drugs keep coming into the prison,” he told the BBC from his official residence in the capital, Victoria. , adding that he plans to build a new jail.
He accepts that “the drug situation is very bad.”
“At the moment, per capita, when it comes to heroin use, Seychelles is number one in the world. And that’s not a statistic that gives me great personal pleasure.”
It’s visiting day at the prison and Jude, who is being held for robbery, is waiting for his mother.
The family room is outside, it is a concrete patio, with plastic furniture, surrounded by a wire fence.
Jude is likeable, warm and friendly, confident but humble. He is also addicted to drugs.
“I’m ashamed to say it but you know, I’m an addict,” he tells us, “and it’s not easy.”
Today, when she settles back in her seat, her eyelids seem too heavy. Despite being in prison, he’s managed to get his dose of heroin that morning, as well as a couple of joints.
Jude has been in and out of prison for over a decade, mostly for stealing to support his addiction.
Her mother Ravinia has had to deal with that problem, as well as another terrible tragedy.
She is a jovial woman; her smile lights up the room and she has a great laugh.
For years she worked running a fast food business, trying to support her four children and give them a good life.
But the heroin took it all.
In 2011, Ravinia’s eldest son, Tony, was found hanged. The circumstances of his death remain a mystery. but Tony was very attached to the heroin, and she has no doubt that the two are related. She doesn’t believe that she took her own life.
When he talks, he seems to be a million miles away. Her pain and confusion mark his face.
“Have strength, mom”
To this day it baffles her how two of her children went down that path.
“Even if they tell me not to blame myself, I still have to blame myself,” she says. And many more mothers across the country feel the same way.”
When Ravinia sees Jude, her mood and smile light up.
“It’s good to see you son,” she tells him, giving him a tight hug.
“I’m glad to see you, too, Mom,” he answers enthusiastically.
As they sit down, she tells us, “You know, we talk, even though I know he’s lying to me sometimes, we talk, we’re friends!”
But tensions soon arise. As she is overcome with tears, Jude wipes away his, telling her, “Have strength mom, have strength.”
And it has.
She is Jude’s rock and one can see how much she means to him, even though he has put her to the test over the years.
“We don’t have anything anymore today because everything disappeared. He even took my checkbook and started [escribir] checks,” he explains.
“He took everything… I remember one time we didn’t even have sheets. Everything he saw he took to sell for drugs.”
The first time Jude went to jail, Ravinia was relieved, but that respite did not last long. She says it’s like she’s been sent to “a school for criminals.”
promise of change
While in prison, Ravinia was forced to finance her son’s vice because “he was consuming drugs on credit.”
“I had to pay because they sent people to collect the money,” she says, and they threatened her. It was Jude who told them to go to his parents, that they would pay for him.
“They threaten you. They say they will kill him.”
Jude knows how lucky she is to have such a mother.
“Thank you, mom, for always being by my side. I know that with you there, one day I will be a better person. I want to be a better person.”
“Do it before it’s too late,” Ravinia replies tearfully.
Jude promises him that he will change. ANDShe is not convinced but does not lose faith.
Jail is not the ideal place to recover, but it is not impossible. They have a methadone program, which can be used to treat heroin addiction, and they offer a limited number of therapy sessions, but Jude has to want to.
Methadone is also available to users outside of prison. It is free for everyone who is registered. Such is the extent of the epidemic.
In Victoria, every morning, a special white van with a distribution window on the side makes several stops around the city, where long lines form of people from all walks of life waiting to get their medicine.
Surprisingly, in a nation in the grip of heroin, methadone is the only consistent support available to addicts.
However, for many Seychelles that daily dose is nothing more than a free morning supply that is incredibly dangerous. Using methadone and heroin at the same time can lead to a fatal overdose.
Using methadone without a detox plan and counseling is rarely a long-term recovery solution. Despite this, due to political decisions, all the residential rehabilitation centers on all the islands of the republic have been closed.
The president, who has been in power for two years, He blames his predecessors for the lack of crucial inpatient care.
He says that politics got in the way of a strategy to deal with the problem in the previous government.
“But we have received a fund from the United Arab Emirates to build a proper rehabilitation center. So we are going in that direction,” Ramkalawan said.
home drug industry
Most heroin arrives in the Seychelles from Afghanistan and Iran by boat, across the wide and porous maritime borders. With nearly a million square kilometers of territorial sea, traffickers have easy access.
Once on land, it is distributed mainly in small makeshift shops in the back of houses in the many shantytowns of the country.
It’s basically a cottage industry involving entire communities.
If one strays just five minutes from any main street – past the luxury hotels and expensive restaurants – they are in plain sight. The drug is everywhere, and the fear is that the worst is yet to come.
While heroin continues to dominate the market, at least now because it is relatively cheap, other drugs are present.
Crack or rock cocaine and methamphetamine are beginning to be used and neither of these drugs can be treated with methadone.
In prison, a few days after his mother’s visit, Jude decides to keep his promise and try a detox plan again.
He’s taking a big step and trying to sign up for the jail’s methadone program, but not everyone qualifies.
Jude arrives at the prison medical center visibly high. When the nurse tests his urine for heroin, he is not surprised that he tests positive.
They tell you that you must stop using the drug completely to be accepted into the methadone program. Agree to do it.
The next day he gets in line with his fellow inmates and gets his first dose.
Jude has also enrolled in a counseling program to give himself the best chance of recovery.
Her mother Ravinia has no illusions, she has been disappointed many times before. But she is praying hard, hoping that this time it will work.
This article is based on a BBC Africa Eye documentary in English: Seychelles: Heroin and Me, which you can watch on the BBC Africa Service YouTube channel.
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-64860698, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-03-14 10:20:07
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